Crisis In Higher Education: Tuition Costs May Be At Tipping Point

A New York college administrator says the ability for the average student to pay tuition may be "reaching a tipping point."

Nancy Zimpher, a chancellor at the State University of New York system, made the remark last week at a meeting with higher education officials gathered at the White House to discuss the looming crisis facing higher education.

The meeting comes at a time in which tuition for undergraduates is rising at twice the rate of inflation and student loan rates are steadily escalating. This is fueling widespread frustration, illustrated most visibly by the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has spread from downtown Manhattan to college campuses all over the country.

While the Occupy movment on Wall Street is dispersing, the frustration of college students continues to fester. On November 21, students at the City University of New York staged a day-long protest of tuition increases, which led to conflict with police and 15 arrests, according to the New York Times blog City Room.